Raytheon to build and upgrade AN/APG-82 AESA airborne radar for modern versions of the F-15 jet fighter
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio – Airborne radar experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will build upgraded radar systems for advanced versions of the Boeing F-15 Eagle jet fighter under terms of a $3.1 billion contract U.S. Air Force contract announced Wednesday.
Officials of the F-15 Division Contracts Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Raytheon Intelligence & Space segment in El Segundo, Calif., to build, modernize, and support the AN/APG-82 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system to align rapidly with the F-15 weapons system program. The awarded is part of the F-15 Radar Eagle Vision project.
The latest version of the F-15 combat jet is the F-15EX, which is based on the F-15 Advanced Eagle that Boeing is building for the air forces of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Advanced Eagle has a fly-by-wire flight control system, digital electronic warfare (EW) suite, an infrared search and track (IRST) system, and the Raytheon APG-63(v)3 AESA radar.
The latest version of the Raytheon APG-82(V)1 AESA radar optimizes the F-15Es multirole mission capability, Raytheon officials say. In addition to its extended range and improved multi-target track and precision engagement capabilities, the APG-82(V)1 improves F-15 system reliability over the APG-70 radar in the legacy two-seat F-15E jet fighter-bomber.
Raytheon capitalizes on enabling technologies in the company's the APG-79 and APG-63(V)3 AESA radars flying on the Navy F/A-18E/F jet fighter-bomber, the EA-18G electronic warfare (EW) jet, and the single-seat F-15C air-superiority jet fighter. The APG-82(V)1 is intended to boost situational awareness and attack capability in the F-15E.
Aircraft equipped with the APG-82(V)1 AESA radar can detect, identify, and track several different air and surface targets simultaneously at long ranges. With this week's contract, Raytheon now will make additional upgrades to the APG-82 radar for aircraft such as the F-15EX and its descendants.
The F-15EX carries more weapons than similar fighter aircraft, and will be able to launch hypersonic weapons that are as large as 22 feet long and weigh as much as 7,000 pounds, Boeing officials say. The F-15EX also is following the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) DevSecOps initiative to develop secure, flexible, and agile software and an open-systems avionics architecture.
The F-15EX will be a large, powerful, non-stealthy, twin-engine jet fighter able to carry a large air-superiority weapons payload. The plane will be able to carry as many as 22 AIM-9X Sidewinder and AMRAAM medium range air-to-air missiles.
It also will have a substantially more powerful mission computer than all existing versions of the F-15, new cockpit displays, a digital backbone, infrared search and track (IRST) system, the Raytheon APG-63(v)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) -- an electronic warfare and threat identification system.
The F-15EX also will have terrain-following radar to enable the pilot to fly at a very low altitude following cues displayed on a heads up display. The targeting pod contains a laser designator and a tracking system with a 10-mile range. The plane also will have as many as 11 underwing weapons stations and digital Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems. The original F-15 jet fighter began development in 1967, and entered service with the U.S. Air Force in 1976.
On this contract Raytheon will do the work in El Segundo, Calif., and should be finished by June 2036. For more information contact Raytheon Intelligence & Space online at www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
